The Taxman

Turns out GalaxyTrail had a Christmas surprise in store, with them just having announced Freedom Planet 2. Several of our forum members are involved with the game’s development, with Stephen DiDuro (aka Strife) being the project lead again, Christian Whitehead (aka The Taxman) working on the game’s engine in Unity, and Falk Au Yeong consulting and mastering the game’s soundtrack.

Lilac, Carol and Milla return as the game’s protagonists, with each having a new look. And just like in the first game, there’ll be an adventure mode with a story and classic mode where all of the cutscenes are skipped. You can find a whole lot more info on the game’s official website, so be sure to check that out. And if you’re a member of our forums, you can discuss the game there as well.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of SEGA’s Sonic & Knuckles, and to celebrate, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 remastered developer Christian Whitehead shared a proof of concept prototype from the Taxman & Stealth personal vaults featuring Sonic 3 & Knuckles running on the Retro Engine. Of course, this is presented unofficially, so don’t jump to the conclusion that a Sonic 3 & Knuckles remastered is on the way anytime soon. Still, awesome to see that they’ve done work on the much requested title, even in an unofficial capacity. The Taxman himself shared this link in our forums, stating that “this isn’t an official announcement of any Sega project, nor to we intend to work on this as a fan-project. It’s simply a proof of concept from our vaults that has been kept to our chests for some time.”

Sega announced today their Winter 2013 lineup features Sonic 2‘s mobile update and Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed for iOS. The two titles are joined by Rhythm Thief and the Paris Caper (which is fantastic and worth checking out if its 3DS counterpart indicates anything) and a new MOBA card game called Demon Tribe.

Sonic 2’s update brings the same enhancements that Sonic 1 received in the form of wide screen display, a smooth 60FPS gameplay, and a host of other enhancements such as high quality Mega Drive sounds, leaderboards and achievements. I’m sure most of you are wondering about the game’s two-player mode. While Sega’s said little about the title, title developer and connoisseur of vegemite Christian “Taxman” Whitehead offered a little tease.

“I’m pretty limited in what I can mention about Sonic 2 right now, but when the Press Release says that the game runs widescreen at 60fps, that applies to all aspects of the game… wink wink, nudge nudge,” Whitehead said.

The Transformed port for iOS will feature a refined World Tour mode to accentuate gaming on the go and also provides four-player local and online multiplayer.

Both titles are currently scheduled for release sometime next month. Grab some hot chocolate, a blanket, and your mobile device (these should undoubtedly make their way over to Android users too.) Sega is aiming to provide a comfy winter for mobile gamers. Let’s just hope Sonic 2 can make it in time for its Nov. 24th anniversary.

Android Police reports that Taxman and Stealth’s remastering of Sonic the Hedgehog will be released on Android and presumably iOS as well later this month for $2.99. Those who have already bought Sonic 1 on iOS will get this release as a free update. The site also released some gameplay footage of the Android version, which confirms that this is indeed Sonic 1 in widescreen running nice and smooth.

Also it has shows that Sonic can indeed use the spindash in this new version. The music isn’t present in this video, presumably because they aren’t done making the tracks sound nicer yet. The menu isn’t present either, as they probably aren’t allowed to share the neat new features. Also no zone title cards for some reason.

Sony’s official U.S. PlayStation blog revealed that Sonic CD boomed past the competition and was the top purchased digital game on the PlayStation Store for the last month of 2011. Given the cult classic status it has amongst Sonic fans, seeing it bust out the gate strong is always a pleasant sight, though its feeling of familiarity with small enhancements for this HD age to give it a breath of fresh air certainly left us smiling.

The other story is that it no doubt shows success for Christian “The Taxman” Whitehead’s Retro Engine, utilized to power the game and all its modifications, and more importantly sends a strong message to Sega that demand is out there and there is benefit to using the engine in not only new Sonic games, but various new titles in general given the engine’s versatility. Congratulations, Taxman!

Sony’s official U.S. PlayStation blog revealed that Sonic CD boomed past the competition and was the top purchased digital game on the PlayStation Store for the last month of 2011. Given the cult classic status it has amongst Sonic fans, seeing it bust out the gate strong is always a pleasant sight, though its feeling of familiarity with small enhancements for this HD age to give it a breath of fresh air certainly left us smiling.

The other story is that it no doubt shows success for Christian “The Taxman” Whitehead’s Retro Engine, utilized to power the game and all its modifications, and more importantly sends a strong message to Sega that demand is out there and there is benefit to using the engine in not only new Sonic games, but various new titles in general given the engine’s versatility. Congratulations, Taxman!

If you’ve not gone and purchased Sonic CD or spread the word to friends who enjoy a quirky platformer, what are you waiting for? We’ll even GIVE you a copy of Sonic CD on Steam if you have a nice tale on how you got someone to play Sonic CD!

Sony’s official U.S. PlayStation blog revealed that Sonic CD boomed past the competition and was the top purchased digital game on the PlayStation Store for the last month of 2011. Given the cult classic status it has amongst Sonic fans, seeing it bust out the gate strong is always a pleasant sight, though its feeling of familiarity with small enhancements for this HD age to give it a breath of fresh air certainly left us smiling.

The other story is that it no doubt shows success for Christian “The Taxman” Whitehead’s Retro Engine, utilized to power the game and all its modifications, and more importantly sends a strong message to Sega that demand is out there and there is benefit to using the engine in not only new Sonic games, but various new titles in general given the engine’s versatility. Congratulations, Taxman!

If you’ve not gone and purchased Sonic CD or spread the word to friends who enjoy a quirky platformer, what are you waiting for? We’ll even GIVE you a copy of Sonic CD on Steam if you have a nice tale on how you got someone to play Sonic CD!

Sony’s official U.S. PlayStation blog revealed that Sonic CD boomed past the competition and was the top purchased digital game on the PlayStation Store for the last month of 2011. Given the cult classic status it has amongst Sonic fans, seeing it bust out the gate strong is always a pleasant sight, though its feeling of familiarity with small enhancements for this HD age to give it a breath of fresh air certainly left us smiling.

The other story is that it no doubt shows success for Christian “The Taxman” Whitehead’s Retro Engine, utilized to power the game and all its modifications and more importantly sends a strong message to Sega that demand is out there and there is benefit to using the engine in not only new Sonic games, but various new titles in general given the engine’s versatility. Congratulations, Taxman!

If you’ve not gone and purchased Sonic CD or spread the word to friends who enjoy a quirky platformer, what are you waiting for? We’ll even GIVE you a copy of Sonic CD on Steam if you have a nice tale on how you got someone to play Sonic CD!

Let’s level here for a second–if you’re a Sonic fan in any capacity whatsoever, you’ve heard of Sonic CD, the tried-and-true cult classic of the original Sonic “trilogy,” as it were. Released in 1993 for the SEGA Mega CD, spearheaded by Sonic’s original character designer Naoto Ohshima and developed by a completely different team than the first Sonic the Hedgehog game, the game has received wildly mixed views as both the best and worst Sonic game–and in some cases, platformer in general–of all time. Sporting surreal and immersive environments, a heavy focus on puzzles and exploration and an absolutely killer soundtrack overseas (courtesy of the collective genius that is Masafumi Ogata and Naofumi Hataya), Sonic CD stands out in a lot of ways from virtually every Sonic title that came after it. This is likely due to the fact that game designer Hirokazu Yasuhara had no involvement in it whatsoever, contrary to the original Sonic and the two sequels that followed it. Still, love it or hate it, Sonic CD has left a longstanding impact on those who played it–both good and bad. Continue Reading

Next month, the re-release of Sonic the Hedgehog CD will be in our digital hands. Available for just about everything (except for Nintendo users…yes, we understand your pain), this will certainly be the definitive release of the game. A choice of soundtracks, unlockable “Tails,”…how could you not want it? I know we’ll have plenty of time to gush over Christian Whitehead once it’s released, so for right now we just have to settle for what the Internet has given us today: courtesy of xbox360achievements.org, we now are able to see just what is in store to get that perfect gamer score. If you want to stay in the dark as to what the achievements are, turn back now.